Long Lost Uzumaki
by Fritter
Summary: What would happen if Jiraiya hadn’t gone along with the Sandaime’s brilliant idea of leaving the so called savior of the village in an orphanage to be ignored, disregarded and assaulted on a continual basis? Pairing TBD, no Harem, well maybe...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the second story idea that I haven't been able to get out of my head. What would happen if Jiraiya hadn't gone along with the Sandaime's brilliant idea of leaving the so called savior of the village in an orphanage to be ignored, disregarded and assaulted on a continual basis? This is how I see it starting. Might be a one shot, depends on if inspiration continues to hit me over the head with a mallet.

OOOOOOOOOO

It was the night of October 10th, and the corpse of the Kyubi was rapidly vanishing as it's chakra was transferred into the body of an infant through the body of the Yondaime Hokage. As he felt his life slipping away, one Minato Namikaze looked up at his predecessor with hope.

"You will look after… him Sarutobi? Make… sure he is… is seen as the hero he is? Make sure he knows… how much I love him and… how sorry… how sorry…" were the last words of Konoha's hero.

The collective ninja in the process of celebrating victory looked on in terror as their hero slumped to his knees and fell to the ground.

"Of course my friend, I will see your will done," He said. Little did he know the headaches that this simple promise would create.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later in the Hokage's office..

"This is bullshit and you know it sensei! I named this kid for god's sake, Kushina and Minato asked me to be his Godfather and as such, I demand you give me my Godson!"

"That is enough Jirayia, I will not tolerate this insubordination. Minato asked me to have the village treat him as the hero he is. He wanted his son to be raised in this village and grow up as a hero. This was his final wish as he lay dying at my feet and I'll be damned before I throw away a hero's dying wish!"

"At least keep the fact he has a demon in his stomach a secret! Do you honestly think that your pathetic excuse for a council will let him live? The village will hate him if they know, if you haven't gone senile then you know I am right."

"A hero young Naruto may be, but how could I possibly keep such a possible danger from the council? What if the seal breaks and we are complete unprepared?"

"You and I helped Minato design this seal! Are you saying that you don't trust your own work? If two Hokage's and a Sannin can't keep this thing restrained, what can? Surely you don't think the son of a Hokage is lacking in the willpower needed to power this seal?"

"…"

"Answer me damnit!"

"I have made my decision Jiraiya, you may leave." Sarutobi answered, his mind set.

"Of course, _my lord Hokage." _Jiraiya said, his voice dripping with sarcasm toward his onetime sensei. He straightened and continued, "I will be leaving the village tonight Sarutobi, it may be a number of years before I return unless it is to pick up my Godson when you see the life you are damning him to. Goodbye you old fool." With these words, the Toad Sannin vanished.

XXXXXXXXXX

The council chamber was pure chaos. The newly reinstated Sandaime Hokage could only watch in horror and disappointment as his sorely overestimated advisors and councilors tossed suggestions back and forth on what to do with the 'demon child'. He wondered if it had been a mistake to not yet reveal Naurto's parentage. Sarutobi was thankful he had not disclosed the child's name, face or even gender. The child's cries were being ignored in favor of determining his future or perhaps lack thereof.

"This child must be put down before it kills us all!" screeched the civilian Haruno representative.

"And if killing the child while this seal is still new releases the beast? What then?" retorted Hiashi Hyuuga, "We don't activate the caged bird seal on our cadets for months after application for this very reason! Think before you screech you damned harpy!"

"This child could grow up to be the greatest weapon Konoha has ever known, let us use this opportunity to cement our place as the greatest of the villages! Legends tell us that the Kyubi is the strongest of the Biju. Rumors have been running for years about Lightning experimenting with these demons and our own history has shown us that the containers for these demons can be immensely powerful warriors!" yelled (yup, you guessed it) Danzo.

"As if we could trust this demon to wield this power on our behalf. We should extract the power and place it in one of the most loyal ANBU, someone who we know is loyal to this village." responded Fugaku Uchiha.

"You know damn well that anyone but a newborn would be unable to survive the process. If Yondaime had not been lucky enough to find this child, the village would be gone. Are you willing to risk the village to satisfy your own ambitions rather than mold this child into the greatest weapon the world has ever known?" Said Danzo before turning towards the Hokage, "Sandaime, would you rather have this child live on the streets or be raised safely within ANBU headquarters where his loyalty could be assured?" It was a testament to his skill as a politician that many were being swayed by Danzo's words.

"Enough!!" shouted the Third, smashing his fists down on his desk, "I cannot believe what I am hearing, that all of you fools would throw away the dying wish of our village's savior! I have taken your… _ideas_… into consideration and decided on the following: Naruto Uzumaki will from this day forth be a citizen of a Konoha with all rights and privileges given to all citizens. He shall be raised by the Sarutobi as a member of my family. Any person, group or clan that treats him in any negative fashion due to his prisoner, I will deal with them personally. I am enacting a law which treats Naruto's situation, tenant and status as a Class S secret. Breaking this law by telling anybody not already aware will result in immediate execution of both parties. Do not test me on this, you won't like the results."

There was silence in the council hall as most of those in attendance looked on in shock, some were literally slack jawed at this pronouncement. Unfortunately, this silence did not last long.

"You would let this creature walk among us, mocking our dead? Do you insult us after we sacrificed so much?" cried out Tsume Inuzuka, "My clan has been decimated by this beast, nearly half of my family lies dead, their bodies yet unburied and you expect me to sit still why you praise their killer as a hero?" Her voice became calm and deadly quiet," I warn you Sarutobi, your decision this day could shatter the village as easily as the beast did. Anything that results in this demon being allowed to roam free will result in my vote of no-confidence in your leadership. Are you too old to be trusted with the safety of Konoha?"

Seeing how much of the Council was aligned with the Inuzuka matriarch, Sarutobi glanced towards the covered and sealed crib next to him and disappointingly enough… compromised… "Very well, he shall not be adopted into the clan, he shall instead be placed in an orphanage to be adopted. You shall not know its face, name anything about it. If any of you are willing to go around slaughtering infants, you shall be dealt with accordingly. The law stands though, neither this child nor anybody in this next generation shall know the truth of this day. The Kyubi was killed by the Yondaime, is that understood?" said Hiruzen Sarutobi sternly, reminding people that this was his village and his authority was not to be questioned lightly.

All of a sudden, a slow clapping could be heard from a corner of the room which shimmered as Jiraiya dropped his genjutsu. "Brilliant announcement oh honored Sensei, what a way to cover your blunder. I told you this would happen. But would you listen? Noooooo…. and now here I am to cover your ass." He said mockingly while strolling across the room. "Ahhh child, they are absolutely right that nothing could guarantee your loyalty as an orphan. If only we knew who your parents were…"

"Jiraiya, do you have a purpose to being here?" Interrupted the Third.

"Eh? What was that? Oh, my purpose… Well to be perfectly honest with you, I am building my nerve. You are still a very intimidating person sensei, even with your mind so obviously gone." Looking down he added, "You poor child, to be sentenced by this poor old fool… Well, I should stop procrastinating I guess."

Flashing through the required hand signs in less than a second, he shouted out "Summoning Jutsu!!" and out popped a medium sized toad who shot out it's tongue to grab and… swallow… Naruto, crib and all before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Well…" Jiraiya started while the room processed what just happened, "I think this is my cue to leave, but first!" A few more hand signs and one more shout of "Summoning, Toad Mouth Bind!!" turned the walls to flesh that gripped the council members and ANBU guards in place.

"If only Minato had known that this child would be treated this way…" said the Toad Sannin who then waved to his now slack jawed, yet still restrained audience and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, sensei to the infamous Sannin, student of the Second Hokage, Monkey Summoner and known throughout the land as the 'Professor' and the 'God of Shinobi'. This famous elite shinobi sat in his office with strict orders to his ANBU guards that he was not to be disturbed for any reason short of the second coming of the Kyubi. He spent this rare moment of freedom from the village banging his head against his desk.

Why you ask? On the off chance that this was all some horrible dream, that Minato was still alive, that his village was not in pieces and that his student had not shaken the very core of the Konoha leadership with his revelation as to the identity of the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune.

Wishing once again that if only Kushina had not died while giving birth that much of this could have been avoided. He was still waiting on the findings from Tsunade to see if there had been any foul play. After hearing Danzo's plan for Naruto's future, he began a quiet investigation into what happened that night. Unfortunately, his last remaining student was also expressing disgust in the village of her birth and he held few hopes of her remaining in Konoha once the investigation is complete.

Thinking back to what had just happened in the council chambers, Sarutobi sighed and once more looked at the scroll he had prepared. With a snap of his fingers, the most promising of Sarutobi's ANBU squads appeared. "Captain, use your hounds and find me Jiraiya. I want you to give him this scroll and bring me his response. Do not under any circumstances engage him. If you are followed, you are to dispose of your pursuers and leave no trace. Do you have any questions?" Sarutobi asked.

He responded "No sir!" and in a flash the 2-man ANBU squad vanished.

Sarutobi resumed banging his head into his desk.

XXXXXXXXXX

20 miles outside of Konoha sat an unusual site. A grown man sat near the crib of an infant furiously scribbling in a small notebook while giggling like a schoolgirl.

"This is genius!! 'And so the hero rescued the young child from his evil captors to return him to the distraught princess of a far away land. In gratitude for the rescue of her child, the princess took the hero aside, reached for the buttons of her gown and slowly…'"

"Waahh"

Jumping at the sudden noise, Jiraiya looked to the no longer sleeping baby, "Ah, what is it? You better not need your diaper changed! Why did I do this again? Oh yeah… damn nobility… it's bad for my image!" He paused a moment before calling out, "If you were enemies, you should have attacked while I was 'distracted', come on out now!"

The two ANBU agents jumped down from their hiding places. "Lord Jiraiya, we bring this message from the Sandaime. He requests that we bring back your response." The ANBU with the dog mask said holding out a scroll.

"You know, I have trouble trusting people with masks. If you want to complete your mission, remove them, now."

With a hesitant sigh, the ANBU reached up and removed his mask to reveal a familiar face.

Jiraiya actually looked surprised. "Kakashi… well I guess the old man isn't going senile after all. What are your intensions here?"

"It is just as I said, we are here to merely give you this scroll and return with your answer. Nothing more, nothing less." The scarecrow replied before noticing that his partner had slowly moved towards the child in the crib. "Wait! What are you doing you fool?!"

The other ANBU suddenly plunged a kunai into the infant's chest… which promptly vanished in a puff of smoke before a thick whip of very sharp white hair surrounded him.

"Silly ninja… you really think I am stupid don't you?" Jiraiya made one quick hand sign and the ANBU was lanced from a few different directions, hitting all 8 vital points, killing him instantly.

_You may ask yourselves why Kakashi was doing nothing during this brief interlude. The most likely reason for this would be his ensnarement by a large toad's tongue and the Wakizashi blade to his throat._

"Anything to explain before you lose your head Kakashi?" Jiraiya asked in a conversational tone.

"I was told by Sandaime, I would never harm sensei's son! You for stealing him, yes, but not a child!" protested the trapped ninja.

"Well let's see shall we?" Jiraiya said, taking the scroll and opening it. There was a cloud of smoke and the Sandaime Hokage appears. "Sensei?!"

"What is going on here Jiraiya?!" asked Sarutobi.

"You mean the fact that one of your precious ANBU tried to kill Naruto and that I am trying to decide whether or not this Uchiha wannabe was in on it or that I am trying to decide if this was your idea in the first place?" responded the Toad Sage.

"Stop this Jiraiya, you know I would never order this. Kakashi is the one that talked me into this idea. I want you to raise Naruto anywhere but Konoha. Only Kakashi and myself know what the child looks like or that he is even a boy." said the Hokage, "You will not be chased, but I want you to bring him back when he is 11 to take the Genin test and rejoin the village. His name and identity will not be known. You will report that he is your apprentice and that you found him after an attack which left his family dead."

"And you don't think that the council will find it odd that I show up 11 years after stealing a baby with an 11 year old child in tow?" asked Jiraiya.

"I will present the council with a body. When you return, you will say that the boy is 13, that you found him and barely managed to save him. Do you accept?"

"Yes, but you do know that this will prevent him from ever knowing about his family don't you?"

"Not really. When he makes Chunin, we will introduce him to the village. He was living with his relatives in Whirlpool, after all his mother is Kushina after all. We sent him to be raised in peace since Stone would have him killed due to his father." said Sarutobi.

"I will think on it, but I will agree to the first half. Goodbye sensei, it will be some time until we see each other again." Jiraiya bowed and vanished.

"It is more than I could have asked for my student, thank you. Kakashi, please return to the village." Sarutobi whispered before disappearing himself.

Kakashi stared at the spot his Hokage had been. "I came all this way and almost got killed to deliver a shadow clone… I hope I get better missions after this." said Kakashi to himself before starting the journey back to Konoha.

OOOOOOOOOO

A/N:Thanks for reading if you got this far. I look forward to reviews as I would like to continue this, but I would like some other opinions on if this is a story worth telling.

Laterz!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow! Thanks to those of you that read, reviewed and/or enjoyed the first chapter of this story! Special thanks to dragoon-zerox for the feedback, you really helped me with the mindset and voice of the story! As probably one of the most prolific readers on this site, I am enjoying getting to write this story as it is a concept I haven't seen before.

One last note, PLEASE REVIEW. It is sad I know, but reviews are the lifeblood of any story and my muse appreciates all the help she can get.

At the time of this note, I have had 223 hits, 1 great message, 3 reviews (all positive yay!), 1 c2 (not quite sure what that is), 4 favorites and 11 alerts. This is a better response than I expected and I hope I don't let you guys down! Enough of this, on to the story!!

OOOOOOOOOO

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the door to his office, imagining that he could see the ninja that had just left, extremely pissed that he had been driven into such a corner. "Kakashi, get your ass in here!"

He appeared from… wherever it is that the ANBU hide in the Hokage's office… "Yes Lord Hokage? May I ask why you refer to me by my real name and not my ANBU code name?"

Kakashi was rewarded with a quick privacy seal and a very evil smile. "That would be because you are suspended from ANBU for 6 months. You are dismissed."

A slack jawed Kakashi just stared for a moment. "I'm sorry sir, could you please repeat that?"

"I don't believe I stuttered, I said you are suspended for 6 months. And I swear on my sensei's grave that if you ever break secrecy like you just did again, I will have you executed. Your loose lips could have doomed this child, was that what you wanted? What do you think would happen if word got out in the village that the container for the Kyubii was not killed? What do you think would happen if Iwa received word that the son of the Yellow Flash was alive, well and almost alone in the wilderness? You see, I was under the impression that you were one of my most promising and trustworthy ANBU. And here I sit, practically blackmailed by one of my own ninja because you violated that trust. So on the off chance you plan to be stupid enough ask me to repeat myself again, you are suspended from ANBU for 6 months. I will see you tomorrow for your reassignment. You are dismissed."

A still slack jawed Kakashi trudged to the door and softly closed it behind him.

Sarutobi sighed. This was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Lord Jiraiya!! Hey old man, you in there?!" shouted a young woman outside a small cabin in the mountains east of Fire Country border. "Eep!"

Why the squeak you ask? The most likely cause would be the kunai to her throat by a serious irritated Sannin.

"You're Minato's brat aren't you? Run, Rin, Ran… something like that?" said Jiraiya.

"My name is Rin. I am his STUDENT you old man, I am looking for his brat! Where is he and why did you steal him? And get this damn knife from my throat!" answered Rin.

"Temper, temper. Let me guess… the scarecrow spoke and you promised, pinky promised even, that you would keep it a secret because everybody knows that girls keep secrets. Am I close? Now for the important question and I swear if you lie to me then I will kill you where you stand! Who. Else. Did. You. Tell?"

Her face white from the tone of his voice, not to mention the knife, she answered quickly, "Nobody! I swear!! I got that cold jackass Kakashi to tell me what happened on his mission and put the pieces together. From the stories sensei told me, I would never his child to be raised by the Super Pervert! And so here I am…"

After a pause, Jiraiya let her go. "You abandoned your village because you don't think I can raise a child?"

"No!" she answered, "I didn't abandon the village! I'm just here to help, ran it by the old man and everything!"

"Wonderful… just what I need… alright brat, come on in."

"The name is Rin, not brat you lecher! You better get to work old man, you should probably add another room to this place or I don't know where you are sleeping." She said before walking into the cabin. All of a sudden Jiraiya had to cover his ears when she screamed, "Oh my god! He is sooooooooo cute!!" Rin ran out of the cabin with our young protagonist in her arms, "What's his name?"

"Rin, meet Naruto Uzumaki." He said proudly.

Rin's suddenly stiffened and the blood drained from her face, almost dropping Naruto. "Uzumaki? As in Kushina?"

"Yes… You were his student and you didn't know about Minato and Kushina? Oops… that may have been a secret…"

Her face darkened, she dropped her head and started mumbling. "They didn't tell me… why the hell didn't they tell me? I mean, I know she was dating someone… how could I not know? What is wrong with me? Was it a Genjutsu or was I that distracted by missions… How the hell…"

"RIn!" Jiraiya yelled. Rin had started holding Naruto tighter and tighter so he grabbed Naruto from her arms, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?! Do you even know my name?"

"Your name is Rin… isn't it?"

"Rin what?" Rin replied angrily.

Jiraiya paused before frowning. "Don't tell me…"

"Rin Uzumaki you jackass! Kushina was my big sister! Why the fuck do you think I am out here? There is nothing left for me in that village! They told me my sister died in the Kyubi attack, was that a lie?"

"Rin, calm down!" Jiraiya yelled.

"So with nothing left for me, I decided to do everything I could to help sensei's kid who I now find out is my Nephew!" Rin screamed, completely overwhelmed.

Naruto started to cry at the high pitched sound. Both adults stopped and immediately started working to calm him down, and themselves in the process.

XXXXXXXXXX

A couple of hours later, after Rin calmed down and Jiraiya caught dinner, they sat down to talk.

"Uzumaki… that isn't sensei's name… what are you trying to pull?" Rin suddenly asked, scowling.

"Did Minato have enemies?" Jiraiya asked as though speaking to a small child.

"Well duh, he basically killed the whole Stone army by himself."

"So, let's say you are the Tsuchikage, k? Your chance at vengeance has been thwarted by an annoying Demon that killed your greatest enemy before you could."

"Yeah… what are you getting at?"

"Let's also say you heard that this man, who almost single handedly ended a war you were on your way to winning, had a child. What would you do?"

"Ohh…" Rin answered with wide eyes.

"So why in the world do I think that it could be a mistake to give him the Namikaze name?"

"I get it!"

"Do you think it could have something to do with keeping his identity a secret until he can protect himself?"

"I said I get it!"

"Because I don't know about you, but in my experience, babies don't do so well against assassins."

"Shut up, I said I get it!"

"I was pretty sure you would, eventually." Jiraiya said with a smile, patting her on the head.

Rin scowled and took Naruto into the cabin, slamming the door. "Shouldn't you be building that extra room now?" she asked, her voice drifting out of the Cabin.

Our beloved Toad Sannin tried his best, but can anybody actually win an argument with a woman, even a teenager, without feeling like crap afterwords? And so a week later, the new and rather dysfunctional family settled into to the now medium sized cabin.

'On the plus side… she is taking care of the baby handling duties… and she's a medic… and this gives me time for my research!' he thought to himself with a huge smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over the next couple of years Jiraiya, Rin and Naruto settled into a pretty standard routine. Rin was responsible for most of the baby raising and was delighted when her name was his first word, followed of course by 'pervert'. They taught him that Rin was his aunt, but refrained from telling him about his mother. He was told he would learn about his father when he was older.

Jiraiya spend most of this time split between his spymaster duties, helping Konoha from afar, and transforming the forest around the cabin into a massive obstacle course for when Naruto was old enough. Whenever he had to leave to maintain contact with his operatives, he would summon one of the Toad elders to watch over his new family. The Toads loved Naruto, and spent their time with him telling stories of the world, the Toads and their lives. It didn't matter if he consciously understood their stories, the fact that they would act out the stories with incredible acrobatics and demonstrations kept him attentive and happy.

Naruto, as you may expect, was hyperactive energy given human form. Starting on his 2nd birthday, he found the obstacle course.

"Where is Naruto?" Rin asked.

Fukasaku answered, "Probably in the water again, I swear that boy can't stay away from the zip line! I'll send one of mine to fish him out and keep an eye on him."

Zip lines, vine jumping, tree and rope climbing, this place had it all and more. Jiraiya hid far more dangerous obstacles higher in the canopies.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was right around his third birthday that Naruto's made his first and best friend. Jiraiya had brought him and Rin to meet two of his contacts in the Water Country, in the small village of Snow.

OOOOOOOOOO

A/N: I think I will leave it off here, PLEASE REVIEW. I covered everything that I wanted to and need to develop some of my ideas for what is to come. Kind of a filler chapter. Don't think I am being too subtle here so I expect people to guess what will happen soon. On a side note, I am not a very big Kakashi fan. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think that Kishimoto made him against Naruto or hold him back. I do believe that Kakashi was a complete idiot to treat an orphan who has been beaten his entire life and acknowledged by basically nobody like that.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Wow! I think people may actually enjoy this story! Let's see if a third chapter can continue what at this point seems to be exponential growth of the people reading this!

At the time of this note, I have had 1,122 hits, 1 great message, 10 reviews (all positive, with one appreciated warning), 3 c2 (can someone tell me what these are?), 16 favorites and 33 alerts. I am thrilled that people are enjoying this. I appreciate any and all feedback and though I have written up a timeline for the next few chapters, but I am always open to ideas.

On with the story!! What will our intrepid young band find in the mysterious village of snow?

And for the record, _'Italics'_ is someone thinking a technique name, they wouldn't really yell it out if they are sneaky ninjas… silly Kishi…

Started October 14th

OOOOOOOOOO

"ACHOO!!"

"Bless you."

"ACHOOOO!!"

"Bless you again."

"AAAAAAHHHHHH" Rin's trifecta was interrupted by Jiraiya placing a finger under her nose. "Thank you." Rin said in a nasally voice.

"You would think a medic-nin, even one in training would be able to cure a cold. Are you sure it was you that shoved that Sharingan into scarecow?" Jiraiya asked with a smile. :) -- see, it's a smile!

"Quiet down old man!!" She yelled before sneezing again, "AAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOO!!"

"Bless you."

"You keep quiet too Naruto!!"

Naruto's laughter echoed throughout the Tundra.

Jiraiya glared at the three year old child, secretly jealous that he could ignore the cold so easily. 'I wish I had a Demon Lord to keep me warm.' He thought, 'Especially a hot, busty, young and clingy demon…'

He paused at the visual, drool hanging from his mouth before yelling "Genius!!" and pulling out his notebook, writing furiously and giggling obscenely.

Naruto just stared at him with a confused look on his face.

Rin, having grown used to this over the years, simply struck him with a haymaker before dragging Naruto onward.

Unsurprisingly, Jiraiya (without a mark on him) quickly caught up to them. "It should only be a couple more hours till we get there! And this town has a hot springs!!" He shouted with a smile!

XXXXXXXXXX

The town of Snow is a small town nestled in the mountains of a peninsula southeast of Fire Country. To most it seems completely and totally unremarkable. Only a few dozen people live there, but it is the most common stop for anybody travelling the mostly land route to between Water and Fire. Perhaps the only reason that the village had not been deserted was that the nearby hot springs kept a small, but dedicated, tourist crowd coming to support the local economy.

Rin, upon seeing the Inn, fell to her knees and started thanking any and every god she could think of before dashing to the Inn with Jiraiya's wallet in her hands.

"Welcome to the Snow Cap Inn, how many rooms did you need?" Asked a young woman at the desk when the rest of the group entered.

Jiraiya smile when he saw her. "Well hello there you pretty thing, allow me to introduce myself." He spread his arms and started shuffling back and forth. "I am the great sage of Mount…"

The reason for his sudden silence can most likely be attributed to the Fist of Female Fury, an ancient and powerful weapon summoned to a woman in times of tremendous anger or frustration. In this case, held by a teenaged medic-nin by the name of Rin Uzumaki. "We will take one room with two beds and one kennel."

The young attendant was having trouble not laughing at the scene before her. "Of course. Here are the keys to your two rooms. If you need anything, my name is Yukiko Azumi and I will be happy to be of service."

"Thank you." Responded Rin as she dragged behind an unconscious Jiraiya to their rooms.

After leaving the great Toad Sage in a heap outside his door, Rin turned to Naruto. "You stay here and keep an eye on him. And remember what we do if he stares at women?"

"I yell 'Pervert!' right auntie?" Naruto replied proudly.

"That's right. You are such a good boy!" Rin went to find the hot springs, knowing that everything was well in hand.

XXXXXXXXXX

A soft knock on the door woke Naruto up as he watched that lady from the front desk walk in. Seeing the look on Jiraiya's face he opened him mouth widely and yelled "P--!" His voice was cut off as a hand covered his mouth and nose.

"Sorry about that. One moment while I fix this." Jiraiya placed a finger on Naruto's forehead a surged a tiny amount of chakra, putting the small boy to sleep. A few hand signs and a Barrier of Silence later, he turned back to the young woman. "It's has been quite some time since I saw you last. How are you doing Yukiko?"

"Indeed it has Lord Jiraiya, 5 years in fact. I'd been wondering what you have been doing for so long?"

"We will get to that in a bit. Since it has been so long, could you update me on any rumors you here coming from the Bloody Mist?"

"The Mizukage continues to consolidate his power. He claims that the wars of the past were the fault of the Bloodline Clans. His more rabid followers have been pushing for the eradication of those clans, but I don't know if it will come to anything." Yukiko paused to gather her thoughts before continuing, "Umm… let's see, I did hear that the Mizukage might be disbanding the Seven Swordsmen. There are rumors floating around that Zabuza has lost favor and there is still nothing being heard from Kisame after his failed rebellion. Raiga has vanished without a trace, but as far as I have heard, the other four are still loyal. They aren't in the latest Bingo Book at least, just Raiga and Kisame as A and S rank nuke-nin respectively."

Jiraiya's eyes had been slowly widening during this dissertation. "Is that your way of saying that I have been gone a really long time and missed out on some major changes within Mist?"

Yukiko smiled. "You have been away for a long time Gramps. Are you ready to tell me how you lost track of 5 years?

Jiraiya glanced at Naruto, sleeping peacefully, "You're looking at the reason. I've let the network suffer a bit for the last few years while I've raised this brat."

Yukiko's eyes widened slightly, "Why Jiraiya! Don't tell me you and that girl?"

"No! Naruto is the son of a friend, that's all! You know I only have eyes for you my dear…"

"Ha ha, very funny old man. A lot has happened, I'm married and I have a kid now. You lost your chance a long time ago." She said with a smile.

Jiraiya pretended to be depressed for a few seconds. "Truly a waste of a beautiful woman… ahh well. So who is this lucky man?"

"His name is Tadashi, he owns this inn. We live here now in the back. I met him when he moved here from Mizugakure to open this Inn."

"He moved here from Mist? Are you sure he is what he says he is?"

"Of course he is, this is the father of my child Jiraiya! I trust him completely!" Yukiko yelled, getting annoyed with Jiraiya's questions. "You drop off the face of the earth for half a decade and you think you get to pick apart my decisions? I don't care if you saved me from the Mizore, I am a grown woman!"

"Calm down Yukiko, don't you think I have a right to be concerned? The Mizore almost killed you 17 years ago just because you hadn't shown signs of activating the bloodline! Now you are married to a man from that same Village and even have a kid!" Jiraiya retorted before whispering, "Of course I am worried about you Yukiko, how could I not be?"

Yukiko calmed down at the last comment. "I am sorry Jiraiya, I've missed you and want you to meet Tadashi so we can clear your doubts. I also want to introduce Naruto to my Haku. I think they could be great friends."

"I'll leave that to you and Rin, I'll be leaving this evening for about a month. What you just told me about Mist is very interesting, I need more details."

"So soon?"

"You can introduce me when I get back. Sorry, but I am playing catch-up and can't delay this. It is good to see you Yukiko." Jiraiya said, giving her a hug. (No groping! Shocking!)

Yukiko kissed Naruto on his forehead, "It's good to meet you Naruto. Have a successful trip Jiraiya, good bye." She said before walking out the door.

Jiraiya then flashed through some hand signs and summoned a small toad dressed in black. "Gamanin, please keep an eye on her. Something doesn't feel right. I'll give you some candy when I get back."

"Will do boss!" Gamamaru said the toad who saluted before jumping out the window.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was the next morning when Rin and Naruto met up with Yukiko out behind the Inn.

"Good Morning Yukiko." Rin said.

"Hi Mrs Azumi!" As usual, Naruto had more energy than any person should.

"Good Morning Rin. Good Morning Naruto, how are you this morning?" Yukiko replied.

"I'm Hungry!"

"Well then, let me get my little Haku and you two can have a snack." Yukiko, went back in the house and came out with a small boy, no older than 4 or 5, with pale skin and short black hair. Gently pushing the child forward. "Go on Haku, say hi."

Haku nervously stepped forward to face Naruto. He and Naruto were about the same height, Haku with a gentle smile and Naruto with a face splitting grin. Bowing, Haku said, "It's nice to meet you, my name is Haku."

"Hi Haku! I'm Naruto, want to play?" Naruto was very excited about the prospect of having a new friend.

"Sure!" Haku was then dragged to a nearby field where Naruto explained a game he heard of called a 'snowball fight'. By this point he had completely forgotten about his hunger.

Rin smiled at the thought that this was the first time Naruto got to spend time with a kid his own age. "Will I get a chance to meet Tadashi as well?"

Yakiko smiled for a moment, "I think he will be joining us for Lunch in a couple of hours. Thank you for meeting us early. Haku so rarely gets a chance to play with another child. There aren't many his age in this village."

"I know the feeling, we don't live near many children ourselves. This is the first chance for a vacation in a long time. Grandpa doesn't take us on many vacations." Rin responded, sticking to their cover story. (Irony).

"Ahh, so Naruto's parents are…"

"My brother and his wife passed away around the time he was born." Rin interrupted. (Remember the cover story)

Yukiko gently touched Rin's arm, "I'm so sorry…"

Rin reclaimed her arm and decided to change the subject. "How about you tell me about you and your husband? How did the two of you meet?"

As the two women chatted and chatted and chatted (women…), Naruto and Haku were having fun pelting each other with snowballs. Naruto, was getting annoyed because Haku never seems to run out of ammo. This resulted in him losing badly and he went to confront his new friend on the matter.

"How are you beating me so badly?" Naruto asked.

"Can you keep a secret?" Haku asked, thrilled to have a friend to confide in.

Naruto didn't hesitate. "I promise." Now as we all know, when he says he promises, it's one of those 'hell or high water' kind of promises, even stronger than pinky promises. People instinctively know this and Haku was no exception.

Haku then looked around to make sure his mother wasn't watching and held out his hand to show Naruto. The reason for showing his new friend an empty hand quickly became apparent as snow and ice, created from nothing, swirled together and filled his hand with a perfect round snowball.

What neither saw was the man walking towards the house whose eyes widened and jaw dropped as he took in the spectacle. These eyes quickly narrowed as a spark of anger lit within.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya crumpled the note in his hands. "This is not good." Rushing a couple of miles from the city, he summoned his old friend Gamaken. "Take me back to Snow as fast as you can, we don't stop for anything!"

"I'll do my best, as much as someone like me can do." Gamaken replied in his normal lackadaisical tone before leaping into the air.

Ignoring the shouts of alarm coming from the Village, they raced across the ocean. 'You haven't let me down once my friend." Jiraiya thought, "I just hope we get there in time…"

Despite the haste with which they travelled, it took the better part of two days to reach the village. His friend Gamaken had run out of chakra earlier in the day and vanished back to Myouboku Mountain. 'I hope I survive this.' Jiraiya thought, popping his third soldier pill into his mount to replenish his strength.

Moving faster than most people could see, Jiraiya raced towards the Inn. Finally arriving, he entered the house to see Yukiko, slumped against a wall with her throat cut from ear to ear. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open as if screaming. Hearing a quiet sobbing from the back room, Jiraiya pulled out a Kunai and crept towards the sound. Peering around the corner, he found Rin near the back door holding Naruto and a pale, dark haired young boy. Both were crying.

"Rin! What happened here?" He asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Jiraiya!" She cried, not seeing him at first. Placing her hands around the other child's ears, he tried to explain. "I… I couldn't stop him, it was that bastard Tadashi… He… And then Haku… And… And then he…"

"Get ahold of yourself, where is he?" Jiraiya was dreading what could have so unnerved a veteran of the Third War and student of the Yondaime himself.

"He's out back… You… He…"

Rin was rambling, so Jiraiya went the back door and looked outside. There, in the center of what can only be described as a nightmare world of ice, a man was impaled from several different directions on spires of ice; a man he could only assume was Tadashi.

OOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: **So there we have it, I hope you enjoyed this. We only have a few more chapters till a time skip, one or two major events still need to be covered for my vision to be brought to life. I am happy that so many people seem to be enjoying this story. Hope too many of you aren't sad about Haku being a boy. To be honest, I was originally thinking about a NarutoXFemHaku pairing, but decided against it as being too common.

Does anybody have any preferences on pairings? Not quite ready for a poll yet, but I would like your thoughts.

Any facts, techniques, histories, etc not from the Manga are mine to toy with as I see fit. For instance, Haku is one year younger in this story than what the anime or DataBook state. Add to the fact that this is an AU story and I would appreciate no flak because something doesn't match up with the kishi-reality.

We are on an exponential increase for hits and reviews, let keep it up!! **REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW **please. :)

Till next time!

O/C Notes:

Yukiko - snow child

Tadashi - loyal / righteous

Azumi - safe residence


End file.
